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From: Justisaur <justisaur@gmail.com>
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action
Subject: Re: Can static electricity kill your mouse?
Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2025 10:32:21 -0800
Organization: i2pn2 (i2pn.org)
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On 2/12/2025 12:27 PM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
> On Wed, 12 Feb 2025 09:12:58 -0500, Mike S. <Mike_S@nowhere.com>
> wrote:
> 
>> I googled this and I am getting different opinions on this so I
>> thought I would ask here.
>>
>> I got up from my computer to just take a break. I sat back down five
>> or so minutes later. I put my hand on my mouse and I got a static
>> shock. That itself, did not surprise me. The air in my house is very
>> dry. What did surprise me is that my mouse died when that happened.
>> The port it connects to is fine. I tested it. The mouse failed on
>> three different computers. Another mouse works fine on that same port.
>>
>> So my question is, did a  simple static discharge kill my mouse or was
>> something else at play here? My mouse, is at the very least, five
>> years old.
> 
> I mean, theoretically it can. Your modern mouse has a chip in it, and
> a surge of electricity --whether it's down the wire from a lightning
> strike or via a concentrated static burst-- can burn out the delicate
> traces within.
> 
> That said, I think it's unlikely. There's a lot of nonconductive
> electricity between those chips and the surface and it would have to
> be a pretty big static discharge to get through that and damage the
> chip. I mean, maybe if you were touching one of the metal contacts on
> a wired mouse, but even then I think the odds are against it. And a
> lot of electronics are a lot more resistant to static electricity than
> you might expect (not that I suggest you test it, but take it from
> someone who has sparked more than a few boards while repairing them
> and had them survive the experience).
> 
> Were I wagering sort, I'd put money more on capacitor failure, or a
> flexing of the circuit board damaging some trace, or just some general
> mechanically induced fault.
> 
> Either way, it's not something I'd worry about. If it WERE static
> electricity, it's probably once-in-a-million event and not anything
> I'd worry about happening soon again. Especially not regarding a
> device you can replace for a few bucks.

Seconded.  More likely would be something failing internally - a 
capacitor perhaps - and shocking you, though again through the plastic 
is pretty unlikely (unless you happen to have a shiny metallic mouse.) 
As it's dead you could always open it up for curiosity's sake and see if 
there's anything loose or burned.

-- 
-Justisaur

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